UV-C Irradiation Effect on Seed Germination, Seedling Growth and Productivity of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Irradiation is a method that given to substances or plants or plant materials with radiation. During irradiation the high energy radiation pass through the matter and cause ionizing or electric or magnetic disturbances that affect the internal structure or matter of plants. During the past few decades, the ozone reduction problem has stimulated considerable research on higher plant responses to UV-radiation (Caldwell and Flint, 1994). When exposed to elevated UVradiation, the higher plants exhibit various physiological and morphological changes (Bjorn, 1996; Greenberg et al., 1997; Rozema et al., 1997; Caldwell et al., 1998) and there is considerable variation among species (Barnes et al., 1990; Day, 1993; Mc Leod and Newsham, 1997) and among varieties within the same species (Ziska et al., 1992; Corlett et al., 1997; Correia et al., 1998, 1999). Seeds are more susceptible to radiation when they have high water content. Presence of oxygen increased the free radical production (Arvind Kumar and Purohit, 1998). The role of water content influencing the effects of physical and chemical mutagens is well established (Conger et al., 1968). Water content appears to involve in facilitate the mobility and action of free radicals and oxygen with physical mutagens (Ehrenberg, 1961). The present study was conducted to observe the effect of UV-C irradiation treatment on water soaked seeds on germination and seedling growth and productivity of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) under field condition. ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 4 Number 8 (2015) pp. 430-443 http://www.ijcmas.com